Positive affirmations get a bad rep. Contrary to popular belief you don’t have to be skipping around your garden in straw underpants chanting “love and light” to believe that positive affirmations can re-wire the brain and so ultimately change your life.

Ugh, I mean, I get it, I get it. I know there’s a few of you who are currently rolling your eyes as you scroll past another positive quote on your Instagram feed, “She believed she could, so she…..” Yes, yes – seriously bugger off. That alongside, “Live, love, laugh” written in italic font and stuck on someone’s living room wall is enough to make your average human feel like they wanna punch you in the face. I get it, I feeeeel you, I understand, but the thing is, facts don’t lie. Positive affirmations or a simple positive word to remind you of what you want, work. Whether you choose to believe in them or not, your words are molding your life regardless.

Do any of the below statements ring true for you?

“I hate Mondays”

“Mannnnn, will this day not end, I hate my life”

“I’m so stupid”

“I feel like shit”

“Whats wrong with me?”

“I’m knackered, why am I always so tired?”

“I never have any money”

“Nothing ever seems to go right for me”

Don’t you find it funny how you’ve been repeating these same statements for what seems like years now, and nothing is changing, it’s because you’re speaking your circumstances into reality. Just as positive affirmations bring you everything you want, negative self-talk brings you everything you’re trying to get rid of.

As long as you carry on complaining, life will continue to give you more things to complain about. If you choose to see life as a means to an end and therefore continuously look with hope towards the future for salvation, life says right back, “Ok cool, you choose to see me as an obstacle to “get over”, I’ll keep giving you more things to complain about and get over, the cycle never ends unless you do! Ugh. I know. LONG.

The reason I know so much about this is because I used to be a master complainer myself, seriously I was a G at this. Everything was always everybody’s fault except my own and positive affirmations made me want to slap the person saying it around the face. If I heard an utter of, “I am what I choose to become,” it made me want to barf. Don’t get me wrong I haven’t done a complete 360 and converted to tap dancing around my friends chanting, “I love life and life loves me right back woohoooo” I’m now just more aware of my words because I slowly began to realise, words have power. Studies have shown that if you place positive affirmations or just words of gratitude around your home, work space, basically, the places where you hang out the most, eventually these positive statements will be wired into your brain and therefore change your outlook on life and ultimately yourself. It doesn’t need to be a long drawn out fancy quote or statement expressing how you live life abundantly and know your worth yada yada, just something that reminds you that ultimately, you have control of your thoughts and the words you speak which mold your day to day life.

Imagine having a typography quote hanging on your bedroom wall that read, “Jesus Christ, you’re looking shitty today! Nothing ever seems to go right for you hun so here’s to another shit day!” Yep, people would think you’d completely lost the plot, they’d actively tell you that you need to go out and seek professional help, yet when you think about it, the words you mutter to yourself as you’re getting ready in the morning and what you say to your friends, family or work colleagues throughout the day aren’t falling too far behind. Words and images are so powerful.

An old friend of mine who never seemed to have any luck with the ladies (they all turned out to be a tad psychotic) later down the line, he ending up unknowingly divulging why. One evening as we were discussing our favourite artists, ( this sounds a lot more thespian-like and grown up than it actually was, think more party back at a friends house, too much alcohol, yeah, more that vibe) anyway he told me one of his favourite paintings was of a crazed woman holding a knife from a popular East London artist and that this painting hung in his bedroom. Above. His. Bed! I mean……. Holy mother fuuurefhweflknknuehfyewfgiwal – yep, that. I gently suggested maybe the fact that he had a painting of a knife yielding psychotic women hanging on his bedroom wall, above his bed wasn’t helping. He laughed at me and said, “Ah don’t be silly babe, that’s just art and it’s one of my favourite paintings.” Hmmmm.

Anyhoo, so, this is all a bit mildly depressing, I’m telling you for all the problems in your life you have no-one to blame but yourself, seriously come again to read another uplifting blog post from Rebecca! But wait, there’s a happy ending to all of this, as with everything else in life, you have a choice to start actively doing something about it and a great place to start is by being thankful for what you already have.

As it’s the last weekend of January, the apparent most depressing month on the calendar, we’re all now eager to get started with the rest of the year. We’re dusting off our old gym kits again (yes again, don’t judge, I needed a break ok) or maybe you’re coming to the end of that weird new detox cleanse your work colleague told you about who always seems to be on an unnecessary diet that lasts round about 2 days, let’s say this particular one involved cabbage and lots of belching (eww) so I figured now was as good a time as any to see if any of you were up for a challenge?

I’m a big believer in placing positive affirmations, images, and statements around the home because I can attest to their benefits.The places you spend the most time are the places that should be decorated and dressed with things of beauty and that make you feel good, it’s not rocket science really.

So here’s the challenge. For the next 7 days, that thing that’s not doing so great in your life, you know, the thing you can’t stop moaning about ie. finances, your love life, family, your job, feeling unattractive whatever it may be. Think of what the exact issue is and then for the next 7 days I want you to write down each morning that you’re experiencing the complete opposite. Oh God, wait, stay with me, I swear I’m not morphing into Oprah and asking you to whisper into your bathroom mirror, “Know your worth hun” whilst kissing your reflection. I’m just asking you to run with me here, it’s 7 days people.

So let’s say your issue is never having any money.

For the next 7 days, I want you to write, ” Money comes to me easily and frequently, my income is constantly increasing and money keeps flowing into my life in unexpected ways.”

Or if you have really low self-confidence and have zero self-belief maybe write something along the lines of, ” I am a confident, sexy and intelligent badass, I always get what I want in life.” You get the picture.

Write it first thing in the morning, before you go to bed and if you can, at some point again in the day. Write it in your phone notes section if you need to, it will literally take 20 seconds. That’s it, that’s all folks, you don’t even need to tell anyone you’re doing it, you may end up even liking it, who knows. What you need to remember is the good thing about all of this is that only good can come out of what you’re doing, you’re not selling your soul here people.

This was the main reason I started adding more feel-good typography prints, bright images, and positive affirmations into my own art collection because who doesn’t want to feel better about themselves, and an affordable yet effective print isn’t really a bad place to start; if I do say so myself! It’s kind of two for the price of one really because you’re buying into the feel good factor with the added bonus of pimping out your living space! It’s basically a win, win! If you can’t think of a quote that comes to mind take a peek at some of our prints here to see if any take your fancy. It doesn’t even need to be a quote, you could choose one of our bright pink flamingo pictures if they take your fancy, as long as when you look at the image it makes you feel happy, bright and breezy then you’re onto a winner. it’s all about taking baby steps towards making the spaces you spend the most time in feel more positive, welcoming and inspiring.

If you would like to purchase one of our prints, or any of our products such as wallpaper or cushions for that matter, you can also receive 20% off until February 1st 2017 using coupon code THANKFUL at the checkout.

So, 7 days eeek, I really hope some of you try this, I mean really, whats the worst that could happen, we’re talking positive affirmations here not rocket science. I’d love to hear feedback from anyone who does try this so please feel free to shoot me an email or message me on Instagram or Facebook with your results. Let’s get 2017 off to an alive and kicking start guys! After all, January is the warm up month, the new year doesn’t officially start until February 1st, 2017. I swear to you it’s the truth, a really smart old guy with a moustache and a walking stick told me this one time back in 88.